Refrigeration



June 1936- w. R. H'AINS WORTH 2,045,134

Q REFRIGERATION i Filed May 51, 1934 IN ENTOR BY p ATTORNEY,

Patented June 23, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATION William R. Hainsworth, Larehmont, N. Y., as-

signor, by mesne assignments. to Servel, Inc., Dover, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application May 31, 1934, Serial No. 728,253

' 6 Claims. (01. 62-1085) My invention relates to grids for ice trays for use in refrigerators.

It has previously been proposed to provide a grid for an ice tray capable of removal from the ice tray without thawing and utilizing force applying mechanism in combination with a reinforcement. of the grid, the dividing portions of the grid being made-of a'fiexible material such as rubber. I have found that with the rigid reinforcing member embedded or tightly incorporated in the grid along the entire length, the icecubes cannot readily be removed from the grid due to the rigidity of. the structure as a whole. The object of my invention is to provide a grid structure separable from the tray body terminates near the top of the tray. The rubber part is carried around the reinforcing member M at 20 and 2lbut is not carried around this rod for a large intervening space at 22. The forwardportion of the part. II is of U shape so that the 8 reinforcing member H can bepulled forwardly out of the rubber part l3. The portion 2| may be carried upwardly as at 25 to hold the parts in given relation in assembled position.

The rubber being soft, the portions, 20 and 2| 10 can be moved toward each other on the reinforcing member l4 whereby the central portion of the rubber part I3 can bulge upwardly and leave the reinforcing member l4. Thus the rubby mechanical means and without the use of heating, and which permits ready removal of the ice cubes from the grid; In the preferred embodiment of the invention the yieldable portion of the grid is relatively loose with respect to the rigid reinforcing member except for a relatively small amount of tying, whereby theflexible portion of the grid can be greatly dis-' tortedwith'respect to the rigid member.

The inventionwill be understood by reference to the accompanying drawing showing a preferred form of the invention, which drawing forms a part of this specification, and of which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a tray and grid embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken on-the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transversesectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

. Fig. 4 is a. vertical sectional view taken on theline 4-4 of Fig. 2.

The grid is contained within the usual tray l0 of rectangular dish form. The tray itself is preferably made of somewhat flexible material such as thin sheet aluminum. The tray rests on a shelf I lof an evaporator which is suitably cooled by pipes or spaces containing refrigerant to be evaporated.

The grid whichis generally designated by reference character l2 comprises a dividing member l3 made of rubber or the like, a reinforcing bar or channel l4, and a lever l5 pivoted to the reinforcing bar M. Member l3 includes a longitudinal portion l! for receiving the reinforcing ment for an appreciable distance her part is twistable to a great extent and this 1 separation of therubber part from the reinforcepermits easy removal of the ice cubes.

The lever l 5 is pivotally attached to the upper I end of the reinforcing member M at. This 20 lever lies along the upper part of the grid in the center and has a forward projection 21 adapted to contact the front wall IQ of the tray whereby T this wall can be pressed away from the gridwith ice attached thereto to separate the grid from 35 member I4 and also includes transverse webs T l8 which are preferably integral with the longitudinal part IS. The reinforcing member I, which may be of channel shape to afford rigidity, extends along the bottom of the grid and upwardly along the front edge ll! of the tray and the tray mechanically without the use of heat as by thawing under a water faucet. The forward part of the lever is rounded.

In using the device, the parts are placed in the position shown, the rubber part l3 being mount- 30 ed on the reinforcing member M. The lever is in the down position. When the ice cubes are frozen and the grid is to be removed the lever 15 is lifted as indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 2.'

The forward part of the lever presses against the upper part of wall I!) and the grid is pried or peeled away from the tray beginning at the front. The grid acts as a unitary structure in this movement. When the grid with ice attached thereto, is removed from the tray the ice cubes can be twisted, The cubes may be removed individually from one end or the cube assembly may be twisted as a whole. The rubber between,-the tying portio'nslll and 2| can be moved away from the 5 reinforcing member l4 and can be twisted in all directions whereby these ice cubescan be'readily removed.

The bar [4 may be constructed to extend downwardly between the tying portions 20 and 2| 50 to prevent ice from freezing across the, bottom of the grid. Instead of having rubber tying portions; these tying portions may be made of 11- brous material embedded in the rubber or suitably tied to it. Wire pieces may be embedded 55 i tegrally with said central partition, a bar havin the rubber and encircle the reinforcing member at the tying places.

The grid should be less resilient to vertical force applied by means of lever l5 than the material of the tray, inasmuch as the ice adheres to the more rigid member. Inwardly extending ridges may be provided in the tray to hold the grid in proper place.

The tray may be provided with any suitable means for releasing the same from the evaporator.

It will be obvious that changes in construction may be made within the spirit and scopeof the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A grid member for an ice tray including a resilient division member and a reinforcing member, said division member being tied to said reinforcing member at one or more places and loosely mounted on said reinforcing member at other places.

2. A grid member for an ice tray including a rigid member of channel shape which is removable from the tray and a soft rubber web member mounted thereon so that a part of the rubber membercan be pulled away from the rigid member.

3. In a grid for an ice tray, 9. flexible rubber division member comprising a central partition having a groove in the lower edge thereof and a plurality of transverse partitions formed ining portions substantially mutually perpendicular throughout the length of the bar to impart rigidity and normally located in said groove,

and means securing said bar to said division placed by flexure with respect to said bar intermediate said securing means.

- 5. In a grid for an ice tray, a flexible division member including a partition having a groove in the lower edge thereof and a plurality of transverse partitions formedqntegrally with said first partition, a rigid membergocated in said groove, and means securing said rigid member to said division member only at two widely spaced points, whereby said central partition may be displaced by flexure with respect to said rigid member intermediate said points.

6. 'In a grid for an ice tray, a flexible web member, a rigid member beneath said web member, and means securing said rigid member to said web member only at spaced places, whereby said web may be displaced by flexure with respect to said rigid member intermediate said places.

WILLIAM R. HAINSWORTH. 

